This application claims the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application, Serial No. 60/306,579 filed Jul. 19, 2001, the complete disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Antenna poles or towers have long been in use for transmission, reception and forwarding of radio and television signals. In addition, microwave antennae have come into frequent demand and usage for cellular communications. Such poles or towers generally range in height from 80 to 220 feet or more. It is also common to place an antenna support or platform upon the poles or towers for mounting antennae thereto for reception and transmission of signals. It is common for the antenna platforms to have a generally triangular shape, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,673 to M. Noble, herein incorporated by reference.
It has been found that lattice-type towers provide an economical, efficient and stable support for mounting an antenna platform. Lattice towers often consist of a generally triangular-shaped framework utilizing a truss-type construction.
One drawback of lattice towers for supporting an antenna platform is the fact that it has been heretofore unknown to have a means or method to readily rotate an antenna platform about a lattice tower. This is because the triangular shape of lattice towers does not readily accommodate a rotational mechanism. It is desirable to have this ability to rotate the platform so that the receiving and transmitting of signals may be optimized.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a rotatable antenna platform and mount that is suitable for use on a lattice tower. It is a further object of the invention to provide such rotatable means in an efficient and economical manner.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a tower, an antenna platform and a mounting assembly for rotatably mounting the antenna platform to the tower. The antenna platform of the embodiment shown includes a frame and antenna mounting members. The tower is a lattice-type tower and includes three vertical support legs joined to one another by trusses.
In one embodiment, the mounting assembly includes tower mounting members for attaching the mounting assembly to the tower, platform mounting members for attaching the antenna platform to the mounting assembly, and rotational members to facilitate rotation of the antenna platform about a longitudinal axis of the tower. The mounting assembly enables the antenna platform to be set at any desired position about a 360-degree azimuth.
In an embodiment shown, the rotational members include a ring. The ring may include ring segments. This embodiment has three ring segments and the mounting assembly allows rotation of the antenna platform along a 120-degree arc while the platform is connected to the tower. The platform mounting members are attached to the ring between the segments thereof.
It is also an embodiment of the invention, that the platform mounting members have a plate and a gusset, and the ring segments have flanges attached to the ends thereof. The flanges of the ring segments are attached to a gusset on one of the platform support brackets.
The ring may be mounted to be slidable relative to the tower mounting members. Furthermore, the ring may be secured to preclude slidable movement relative to the tower mounting members. In one embodiment, the ring is mounted to the tower mounting members with U-bolts.
It is also an aspect of the invention to provide centering clamps to maintain centering of the platform with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tower while the rotational members are being rotated. In the embodiment shown, the centering clamps are attached to the tower mounting members and have a T-shape including a center flange. The flange is perpendicular to a retaining plate. The centering clamps are positioned to be juxtaposed the inner diameter of the ring.